


simple and clean

by ailurea



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Post-Movie, Sharing a Bed, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 06:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20773775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailurea/pseuds/ailurea
Summary: Lio can't remember a time when his life wasn't complicated.Maybe that's why he doesn't expect Galo.





	simple and clean

The first night is the hardest.

The chief scientist, Heris Ardebit, can't open the cells that the Burnish—or rather, Burnished—are trapped in. Whoever designed them apparently never expected there to be a need to open them once assembled—a thought that makes bile rise sour in Lio’s throat.

With the easy option out of the way, the Burning Rescue decides to use force instead. Lio borrows a spare lightweight rescue mech and joins them in the Prometech engine, where they cut open the cells one by one.

The Burnish—Burnished—they find seem all right, physically. The Promare must have helped heal them as they left. But the worst is the ones they don't find—the empty cells left behind by those whose Burnish powers couldn't survive the strain of powering the engine for so long.

The empty cells left behind by those whom Lio had failed to save.

He pushes all of that aside as he moves along the row of glowing cells. There will be time to grieve later.

Varys of the Burning Rescue is the one to find Meis who, despite his exhaustion, insists on staying to help. Everyone else is transported out by Aina, where they join the rest of the masses clamoring for shelter in the ruined city.

It’s slow going, but no one complains. No one even stops to take a break.

Lio can’t even consider it. Not until everyone’s freed.

It must be hours later that Lio finds Gueira, in the very last row, and he finally feels like he can breathe again. It's with shaking hands that he breaks the restraints, and Gueira slumps forward into him.

“Knew you'd come, Boss,” Gueira slurs, exhaustion seeping from every pore.

Lio holds him tightly, just for a moment, then calls for Meis.

“We're almost done here,” Lio says when Meis arrives, hovering beside the cell in his own borrowed mech. “Take him and get some rest.”

Meis is already pulling Gueira into his arms. “What about you?”

Lio looks down the rest of the row. “I'll finish up soon.”

He works one by one down the row after they leave. The very last cell is empty, but the despair he feels has been so constant that by this point it feels more like apathy.

He turns and heads out of the engine, up to where Meis and Gueira are still waiting among a small group of Burnished on top of the ship. It doesn’t look like they’re leaving anytime soon, either.

Lio’s lip twists. Promepolis has shelters built to withstand the fires in case of another Great Blaze, but it’s likely that, like the ship, there isn’t actually enough room for everyone inside.

Meis confirms it when Lio lands and steps out of his mech. “It's been slow going since the shelters filled up. The Captain’s been taking over any usable space they can find.”

Lio’s mind springs to the places he had prepared as Burnish settlements, but they’re all well outside the city, and he's not sure how livable they'll be now that they don't have their Burnish powers. He crosses his arms. “Will there be room for everyone?”

Meis hesitates, glancing at Gueira, but then he says, “There's a place. Fireproof, lots of rooms. There’s a team clearing it out right now, and the Captain says it'll fit everyone, with room to spare.”

“But?”

The hesitation, again, but this time it’s Gueira who speaks. “It’s Kray Foresight’s mansion.”

There's an urge Lio feels when he's angry or anguished; a heat that starts at his very core and fills his veins with fire, makes his fingertips pulse with it. An urge to burn with his emotions.

He expects that fire now, that instinctive drive to destroy everything Kray Foresight once loved. But what he feels is only the ghost of it, a thrumming that never becomes more than the memory of something that was once an inescapable part of him.

It’s unsettling.

“Well, the firehouse should’ve made it through the blaze,” Galo says, stretching next to Lio with his arms behind his back. He grins at Lio. “It'd be a tight fit, but you could stay with me there for now.”

Staying with Galo would—not be terrible, Lio thinks, but he refuses to impose. “That won't be necessary.”

“Come on, it’s obvious you don't want to go to the mansion,” Galo says in that straightforward way of his. “And this is better for us anyway. If you don't stay with me, how else are you going to take responsibility?”

“Take responsibility for what?”

“For what?” Galo repeats. “For my first kiss, what else?”

Lio jolts. Objectively, he knew how Galo must have saved him, but it's—he’s never really looked at it like a _kiss_. Thinking about it like that makes his lips tingle. It’s more akin to CPR than anything, and has Galo really never done that, either?

Lio’s about to say something to that effect, but then he sees Gueira and Meis’s openly curious faces and decides to let things stand as they are.

They don't need to know how close Lio had gotten.

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll go with you. But after we’re sure everyone else has somewhere to sleep.”

“We can handle it,” Meis says.

“You need to rest too,” Gueira says. “Go relax with your, uh—” He looks to Lio to fill in the word, and then to Galo. When neither of them say anything, he just says, “—man.”

Meis nods in agreement. “Let’s meet up tomorrow.”

The argument is on the top of Lio’s tongue. He lets it die there. He wouldn't give the Freeze Force a centimeter, but the Burning Rescue have proven themselves reliable. Galo’s trust in Kray Foresight may have been misplaced, but at least his teammates in the Burning Rescue seem to hold his same ideals.

“Tomorrow,” Lio agrees and joins Galo as he heads over to regroup with the rest of his team.

“Hey,” Galo says as they walk, a consternated furrow to his brow. “What did he mean, calling me your man? Like, your inside man to the Burning Rescue?”

Lio stops walking. “You cannot be this dense.”

“What do you mean?” Galo says, revealing that he is exactly that dense.

“You were the one going on about first kisses and taking responsibility,” Lio says. “What exactly did you think they’d take away from that?”

Galo’s eyes widen. “Oh! Well, I just meant that—you mean they think that we’re—I didn’t mean it like that! We can go back, clear things up.”

“No,” Lio says, too quickly, and knows he has to explain before Galo can get the wrong idea. Or the right idea. Whichever. “If you explain it wasn’t a real kiss, then they’ll know what really happened.”

“I’m sure it’s something they’d want to know,” Galo says.

“It isn’t anything they need to know,” Lio says, crossing his arms tightly. “It’s done. There’s no point in worrying them about it now.”

Galo considers him for a long moment. His stare is unnerving, but somehow not unpleasant.

Lio stares back.

“You know,” Galo says, “you don’t have to carry everything yourself. I’m sure your friends would be happy to share some of the weight.”

Lio still remembers the frustration he felt when Gueira and Meis made the choice to sacrifice themselves for his sake, despite his protests, and without even a moment of hesitation. He was supposed to be their savior. Yet they were the ones who risked their lives to save him.

As a leader, he’s asked for more than enough from them.

“Or you could share with me, if you wanted!” Lio looks up as Galo grins and strikes a proud pose. “We are Lio de Galon, after all!”

“Not anymore,” Lio says, holding out his empty palm as a reminder.

Galo reaches out, putting his hand beneath Lio’s and curling his fingers closed. “That wasn’t Lio.” He pushes the loose fist to Lio’s chest and holds it there, pressed warm over his heart. “This is Lio. And this hasn’t changed.”

It’s so simple, so naive that it’s laughable.

Somehow, it makes Lio smile anyway.

* * *

None of the other members of the Burning Rescue even bat an eye when Galo announces that Lio will be staying with him. The most reaction is from Remi, who says, “I see,” and pushes his glasses up in a way that makes Lio frown.

Lio thinks he understands that reaction better when he sees Galo’s room at the firehouse. Because that’s what it is—a room.

“It’s important for us to stay within the firehouse,” Galo says. “We need to be ready to dispatch at a moment’s notice! That’s part of our duty as firefighters of the Burning Rescue!”

“I understand that,” Lio says, “but when you suggested I stay with you, I assumed you had more than a bed and a desk.”

Galo rubs the back of his neck, a sheepish grin on his face. “Well, I did say _tight fit_, didn’t I?”

That may be an understatement. There is possibly enough room to squeeze on the floor, but then the only way Galo would be able to walk around would be to step right on him. And there is a bed, yes, but it’s not a very large one, and given Galo’s size, Lio thinks there probably isn’t enough room for him there, either.

But even as he’s thinking that, Galo is stripping down to his boxers—oh, nevermind, not his boxers—and Lio averts his eyes hastily as Galo climbs onto the bed.

“Ah, I feel like I could sleep for days,” Galo groans, stretching under the covers. “Here, come on.” He rolls over onto his side and lifts the covers, showing off the space in front of him.

Lio walks to the edge of the bed and looks down at the navy blue sheets. “There isn’t enough room.”

“Ah, you’re thinking too much,” Galo says, waving the blanket. “Haven’t you learned by now? The only way to not succeed at something is to not try.”

“I really don’t think that’s the _only_ way—”

Galo grabs Lio’s wrist and tugs until he’s catching himself against the bed. “Come on, come on, lay down, I’m too tired. How do you still have the energy to argue?”

The energy is leaving him with every word coming out of Galo’s mouth. Lio sighs and climbs in, careful not to touch Galo for his own sanity as he curls up on his side, though he ends up brushing against him anyway because _there really isn’t enough room_.

“You’re sleeping in pants?” Galo says.

“You’re the one dragging me into bed with them on,” Lio says, but he wouldn’t take them off anyway, even if Galo is shamelessly sleeping naked. Especially if Galo is shamelessly sleeping naked. The only reason Lio isn’t covered head to toe is because his shirt has long since burned off.

“Just seems uncomfortable,” Galo says. “But hey, if it works for you, it works. Here, let me—” Galo wrestles his blanket over the both of them, then rolls forward and reaches over Lio’s head.

Lio holds his breath at the hot press of Galo’s chest against his back. Every nerve in his body lights up at the forgotten feeling of skin on skin, and he luxuriates in the heat, just for a moment.

He hadn’t realized how cold he’d been.

Galo hits the light switch, and the room plunges into darkness.

“G’night,” Galo says, flopping back over, but not all the way. His body stays close to Lio’s, enticing in its warmth. His arm doesn’t make it all the way back either, dropping heavy over Lio’s waist.

It feels so warm. So safe. A comfort that he hasn’t had in—ever, maybe.

But Lio doesn’t think Galo, in his tired haze, really even knows what he’s doing. Lio shifts under Galo’s arm, just enough to remind him that the limb is there, but Galo only squeezes Lio tighter and pulls himself closer.

Lio thinks that, possibly, he has become Galo’s teddy bear.

“You good?” Galo murmurs. “You’re moving a lot. Too much for sleeping.”

“I’m fine,” Lio says.

Galo hums.

They lay in silence for a moment, Lio hyperaware of how he’s completely surrounded by Galo right now—his weight, his warmth, the light brush of his breath. It makes him feel—something. Something complicated.

Like his thoughts for the man himself. Galo is somehow both completely and not at all like Lio’s initial impression of him. Lio definitely wouldn’t have thought he’d end up half-naked in Galo’s bed. But Galo seems like exactly the kind of person who’d invite a stray cat in from the cold, even if it got him bitten.

Lio respects him for that.

“Galo.”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

Lio isn’t sure exactly what he’s thanking Galo for—there’s so much there. For being willing to listen, even when there was no reason for Galo to believe anything he said? For stopping him from killing Kray Foresight while he was mad with rage? For helping him save the planet with the force of his will? For giving Lio a place to stay?

Maybe it doesn’t matter, because Galo doesn’t ask.

“It’s my rescuer’s will,” Galo says, blurry with sleep. He somehow has it in him to raise a proud fist. “You can always count on me.”

Lio huffs. So simple.

But, he thinks, that may not be a bad thing.

* * *

Lio’s alone when he wakes up.

The blanket’s still over him, and now that some of his exhaustion has lifted, he can take a moment to appreciate that he’s sleeping on a real mattress, with a real pillow underneath his head. It’s a luxury he hasn’t had in a long time.

Though, after last night, something about it feels incomplete.

He sits up in the bed, uncertain about what to do next. Lio’s fairly certain Galo wouldn’t leave him in the firehouse alone, so he must be out in the common areas somewhere. Lio doesn’t plan on walking around shirtless, but he doesn’t see anything laying around that he can wear.

He doesn’t know what he expected. It’s not like he often sees Galo going around with a shirt on.

Lio’s considering how much of an invasion of privacy it is for him to start going through the dresser when the door opens and Galo squeezes in, carrying two full bags of bagels that must be for the team.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Galo holds the bags aloft. “Hungry?”

“Sure.”

Galo hands him a bag. Lio pulls a bagel out before sealing it back up and putting it on the desk.

“You don’t want the rest?” Galo says, mouth full of bagel. His bag is, somehow, already half empty.

“I think one is more than enough,” Lio says faintly.

Galo hums and sits on the edge of the desk. “I guess that makes sense.”

It’s with a detached sort of resignation that Lio says, “And why does that make sense?”

“Because you’re so small.”

Lio has to admire the fact that Galo doesn’t even hesitate before saying things that prove his brain isn’t completely connected to his mouth.

“Anyway, the rest of the Rescue’s already out doing a survey of the city,” Galo goes on. He’s already pulling another bagel from his bag. “Can’t keep people in the shelters forever. Captain wants us to figure out where we should focus reconstruction first.”

So the Burning Rescue is shifting to the reconstruction efforts? “I suppose there aren’t many Burnings to be rescuing people from nowadays,” Lio says.

“Ah, yeah.” Galo puts the entire bagel into his mouth, and Lio watches in horrified fascination as he chews twice and swallows. “We’ll probably change our name at some point, but that’s something we can figure out later. Right now, we’ve got a whole city in need of rescuing!”

And not just the city, either—the entire planet, laid to waste the same way it was 30 years ago. This time, all because of Lio.

“Because I burned it all,” he says.

Galo shakes his head. “You saved everyone.”

“_You_ saved everyone,” Lio corrects. “If it weren't for you, everyone would have died. Including me.”

“Fine then, _we_ saved everyone,” Galo says. “Nothing we did would've been possible with just either of us. It's only together, as Lio de Galon, that we could prevail! That's why I think you should join the Rescue.”

Lio’s head spins. “What?”

“The way you looked after all of the Burnish, and your commitment to saving lives without taking them,” Galo says. “I have to say, I’m impressed by all of it! I judged you too quickly before, and I'm sorry for that. But you've got the real spirit of a rescuer.”

“I don't think anyone wants to be rescued by a Burnish,” Lio says.

“You're not a Burnish anymore, though,” Galo says, and that—

Lio doesn't know how he'd forgotten that detail about himself already.

“I still feel like I am,” he says, picking at the bitten-off edge of his bagel. “I can't forget that part of me. No one else can, either.”

Galo turns and points at him. “That's good! The last thing anyone should do is forget. We really messed it up, how we handled you and all the other Burnish, and now look what happened. We have to remember it, every part of it, so that we never do it again.”

“Everyone isn't just going to forgive—”

“Hey.” Galo grabs Lio’s shoulder, and Lio almost drops his bagel. “You aren't the ones to blame for all of this. We made it here as a society. We’ll fix it as one. And if anyone doesn't understand that—“ he slams his fist into his open palm, “—then I'll make them!”

Lio laughs, feeling oddly warmed. “You really are simple, aren't you?”

Galo plants his fists on his hips and puffs his chest out. “Hurting others is bad! Helping others is good! Making mistakes is natural, what matters is how you take responsibility for it! That's the rescuer’s way!”

“Simple,” Lio says again.

Galo huffs. “So what if it is? Is that really such a bad thing?”

“No,” Lio says. “It’s not.” If the choice is between more Galos in the world, or less—he knows what he would choose, every time.

Galo deflates. He looks like he was half expecting the argument. “Well. Good.” He slumps against the desk and eats another bagel whole. “So then that means you’re joining the Rescue, right? I was thinking, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but maybe Lucia could throw together another partner mech for us. She’s good at things like that. We would need to have a matoi, of course!”

“Wait, I—” Lio has a lot of questions and protests in mind, but what comes out is, “You would want to work with me?”

“I’ve been talking about Lio de Galon this whole time, haven’t I?” Galo says. “Don’t you think we worked well together?”

“I—We did, but—”

“It’s settled, then!”

“Nothing is settled!” Lio doesn’t even know how they got to this point in the conversation.

Galo throws his arm over Lio’s shoulders and sweeps his arm grandly. “Lio de Galon, together again! And this time, as part of the Mad Rescue!”

“That’s a terrible name,” Lio says.

“We can work on it,” Galo says easily, springing off the desk. “Are you done eating? We should meet up with everyone else. Ooh, I can’t wait to get started. We’re going to be an awesome team! Unstoppable rescuers!”

“Galo,” Lio says, before he can get too far. “I need clothes.”

His pants have seen better days, but they’re wearable. He’d prefer it if he actually had something covering his chest, though.

Galo looks him up and down. “Oh.”

Lio looks away and refuses to flush, because he knows this idiot doesn’t mean anything by it. 

“Maybe this?” Galo says, head in his dresser. He pops up holding a navy blue shirt with the logo of the Burning Rescue on it. “It’s a little too small for me.”

Which means it’s still much too big for Lio, but he’ll take what he can get. He takes it from Galo and pulls it over his head. It’s large, but he isn’t completely swimming in it. It’ll do.

“Oh,” Galo says again, and when Lio looks up, he’s scratching his head with a grin on his face that Lio can't read. Embarrassment? Why would it be embarrassment? Amusement, then?

Lio crosses his arms. So what if he’s small? He dares Galo to comment on it again. “What?”

“No, I was just thinking,” Galo says. “You’re actually pretty cute, you know?”

Lio stares. Galo says it like an observation, not like he really means anything by it—in fact, he’s not even looking at Lio’s reaction. He’s contemplating Lio’s leftover bagels.

This man is… ridiculous.

And Lio is ridiculous for thinking that so fondly.

“Galo.”

Galo turns, bagel halfway in his mouth. He blinks when Lio pulls it out, and how he reacts next, Lio doesn't know, because he closes his eyes as he reaches up and presses his lips to Galo’s.

And a press of lips is all it is. Lio hesitates to even call it a kiss. It’s brief, dry, and warm, and he thinks there’s been a transfer of bagel crumbs.

Galo is staring, wide-eyed, as Lio pulls away. “What was—you just—that was—huh?”

“I took responsibility,” Lio says. “We’re even now.”

“Wha—how is that even?” Galo says, knuckles to his lips. “It’s not like that was your first kiss, was it?”

Lio decides not to get into the mechanics of what is and isn’t a kiss. “It was the first one that wasn’t saving someone’s life.”

Galo stares at him for a moment, then says, “Those are separate things? But you just—So then—Does that mean you just took _both _of my first kisses?”

Galo sounds very offended, which means Lio’s amusement is probably very inappropriate. Lio smothers his laugh behind his hand.

Galo scowls and grabs Lio’s wrist. “My turn.”

Lio lets Galo pull his hand from his face. “Your turn for what?”

“I have to kiss you better than you kissed me just now!”

Lio thinks he could spend a lifetime and still not understand how this man’s mind works. “How exactly did this become a competition?”

“Hey, you were the one who challenged me out of nowhere!” Galo says. “Now that you’re fully prepared to appreciate all I have to offer, it’s time for me to prove my worth!”

“As… a kisser.”

“Well,” Galo says, seeming to reconsider everything that’s been coming out of his mouth. Good for him. “Unless you don’t want to, of course.”

“Oh,” Lio says. “I want to.”

“I want to, too.” Galo steps closer, crowding Lio against the table. “So it’s simple, then, right?”

If this were anyone else, Lio would have lashed out by now, his instinctive reaction to being cornered. But here, surrounded by Galo’s bulk, he doesn’t feel claustrophobic. He feels free.

_Simple_, he thinks, and leans up and kisses Galo again.

Simple might be just what he needs.

_hold me_  
_whatever lies beyond this morning_  
_is a little later on_  
  
_regardless of warning_  
_the future doesn’t scare me at all —_  
_nothing’s like before_  
♥

— simple and clean (utada hikaru)

**Author's Note:**

> i love promare and lio and galo so much i had to write something even if i only 50% remember the details of canon  
(i'm very sorry for anything i got wrong!)
> 
> \----
> 
> thank you so much for reading! ♥  
i love, appreciate, and reply to all comments, even if it takes me a little while to get to them :)
> 
> please come say hello!  
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> 
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